Injection mold

ABSTRACT

A cavity of an injection mold has a ring shape in a plane view, and has a cross-sectional shape having an upper surface forming a design surface of an injection-molded product, both side surfaces continuing from the upper surface, and a bottom surface. When molten resin is injected from a side gate, flows in opposite directions are generated in the cavity and the molten resin meets at a position opposite the side gate in a diameter direction of the cavity, but at this position, the molten resin partly flows into resin reservoirs disposed on both sides. Consequently, since flows horizontal to the upper surface are generated, a luminous material in these flows is also oriented substantially in parallel to the design surface, which can alleviate the disorder of the orientation of the luminous material.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of theprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-093362, filed on Apr. 19,2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an injection mold in whose cavitymolten resin meets.

2. Description of the Related Art

In resin car parts, the painting has been applied on many decorativeparts corresponding to design parts. However, due to problems of a costincrease and the generation of VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) causedby the painting step, the adoption of unpainted parts molded fromcolored materials that are resin materials directly colored withcoloring agents such as pigments or dyes has been increasing year byyear. Especially as car interior parts, resin parts with metallic colorare often adopted, which has given rise to a demand for realizing a costreduction of resin parts with a metallic tone by eliminating thepainting.

In resin injection molding, leading ends of flows of molten resin arelikely to become cold, and when they meet each other in a solidifiedstate, defective welding occurs, leading to an appearance defect andstrength reduction. A linear pattern generated by such meeting of themolten resin is called a weld line. When a hole shape or the like existsin a multi-point gate or a part, diffluence and confluence of the moltenresin occur, leading to the generation of the weld line. Ordinarymethods for correcting the weld line include a method of setting moldtemperature or resin temperature high or setting injection speed high,thereby preventing leading ends of flows of molten resin fromsolidifying, but even by such a method, it is difficult to completelyeliminate the weld line. Especially an unpainted resin part with ametallic tone using colored resin containing a luminous material has aproblem that the orientation of the luminous material is disordered bythe collision of the molten resin and as a result it loses a luminousfeeling to appear black, so that the weld line becomes dark to beemphasized, leading to a serious appearance defect.

As a technique to solve this kind of problem, Patent Document 1, forinstance, discloses a structure in which one of two resin flows runningin opposite directions from a gate flows out to a resin reservoir beforereaching a meeting part, in a cavity having a ring shape in a planeview. Patent Document 1 says that this structure increases a meetingangle of one and the other of the resin flows and can prevent thegeneration of a weld line.

-   [Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No.    2008-188855

However, the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot alleviate thedisorder of the orientation of a luminous material when the two resinflows meet each other.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention was made in consideration of the above problem andhas an object to maintain a luminous feeling of a luminous material byalleviating the distortion of its orientation and make a weld line lightand inconspicuous, in an injection mold in whose cavity molten resinmeets.

An injection mold of the present invention is an injection mold in whosecavity molten resin meets, characterized in including resin reservoirswhich are connected to the cavity on both sides of a position where themolten resin meets, and into which the molten resin partly flows.

Another characteristic of the injection mold of the present invention isthat the cavity has a cross-sectional shape having a surface forming adesign surface of an injection-molded product and both side surfacescontinuing from the surface, and one of the resin reservoirs isconnected to one of the side surfaces and the other resin reservoir isconnected to the other side surface. In this case, the resin reservoirsmay be connected to the side surfaces at positions apart from thesurface.

Another characteristic of the injection mold of the present invention isthat the cavity has a cross-sectional shape having a surface forming adesign surface of an injection-molded product and a bottom surfacecontinuing from the surface.

Another characteristic of the injection mold of the present invention isthat the cavity has a ring shape in a plane view.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cavity of an injection moldaccording to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plane view showing the cavity of the injection moldaccording to this embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a view used to explain flows of molten resin at a meetingpart of the injection mold according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3B is a view used to explain the flows of the molten resin at themeeting part of the injection mold according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3C is a view used to explain the flows of the molten resin at themeeting part of the injection mold according to this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a view used to explain a reason why a weld line is generated.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a state of the vicinity of the meeting part ofthe injection mold according to this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view used to explain the flows of the molten resin at themeeting part when a resin reservoir is connected only to one sidesurface.

FIG. 7A is a view used to explain a connection position of the resinreservoir on the side surface of the cavity.

FIG. 7B is a view used to explain the connection position of the resinreservoir on the side surface of the cavity.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the injection mold and is a view showinghow an orientation angle of a luminous material is confirmed.

FIG. 9 is a chart showing results of examples.

FIG. 10A is a view showing a photograph of a cross section.

FIG. 10B is a view showing a photograph of a cross section.

FIG. 11A is a view showing a cavity according to another embodiment.

FIG. 11B is a view showing a cavity according to another embodiment.

FIG. 11C is a view showing a cavity according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cavity of an injection moldaccording to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a plane view thereof. Asshown in FIG. 1, the injection mold includes a mold 1 (a movable side ora fixed side) and a mold 2 (the fixed side or the movable side), andwhen the injection mold is closed at a parting line PL, a cavity 3 beinga space having a shape of an injection-molded product is formed. Thecavity 3 has a ring shape in a plane view as shown in FIG. 2. Further,the cavity 3 has a rectangular cross-sectional shape having an uppersurface 3 a forming a design surface of the injection-molded product,both side surfaces 3 b, 3 b continuing from the upper surface 3 a, and abottom surface 3 c.

In such an injection mold, thermoplastic molten resin containing aluminous material such as aluminum, mica, or Metashine is injected froma side gate 4 to fill the cavity 3, so that a ring-shaped resin partwith a metallic tone is molded.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, at a position opposite the side gate 4 in adiameter direction of the cavity 3, resin reservoirs 5, 5 are connectedto the side surfaces 3 b, 3 b respectively. Note that in FIG. 1, theresin reservoir 5 on an inner side is not illustrated. When the moltenresin is injected from the side gate 4, flows in opposite directions aregenerated in the cavity 3 as shown by arrows L, R in FIG. 2, and at theposition opposite the side gate 4 in the diameter direction of thecavity 3, the molten resin meets (joins) (see FIG. 3A). Then, at theposition where the molten resin meets (hereinafter, referred to as ameeting part 6), the molten resin partly flows into the resin reservoirs5, 5 (see FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C).

FIG. 4 is a view used to explain a reason why a weld line is generatedand shows a state of the vicinity of the meeting part 6. When the moltenresin flows in the cavity 3, the flows near the mold surface becomesubstantially parallel to the mold surface and the luminous material 7contained in the molten resin is also oriented substantially in parallelto the mold surface. However, at the meeting part 6 where the moltenresin meets, the orientation of the luminous material 7 is disordered bythe collision of the molten resin, and as a result, it loses itsluminous feeling to appear black, so that a weld line 8 becomes dark tobe emphasized.

In this embodiment, the resin reservoirs 5, 5 are connected to thecavity 3 on both sides of the meeting part 6. In this case, at themeeting part 6, the molten resin partly flows into the resin reservoirs5, 5, so that flows horizontal to the upper surface 3 a are generated asshown by arrows X in FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C, and accordingly, the luminousmaterial 7 in these flows are also oriented substantially in parallel tothe upper surface 3 a. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the disorder ofthe orientation of the luminous material 7 is alleviated, and it ispossible to maintain the luminous feeling of the design surface of theinjection-molded product and to make the weld line 8 light andinconspicuous, compared with a case without the resin reservoirs 5, 5.

Further, since the molten resin partly flows into the resin reservoirs5, 5 at the meeting part 6, it is possible to suppress a pressureincrease ascribable to the collision of the molten resin, which canprevent the resin from expanding when the molds 1, 2 are opened.

Further, since the molten resin partly flows into the resin reservoirs5, 5 at the meeting part 6, solidified leading ends of the molten resinflow into the resin reservoirs 5, 5, which makes it possible to improveadhesion at the meeting part 6 and reduce strength reduction at themeeting part 6.

It should be noted that the resin reservoirs 5 need to be disposed onboth sides of the meeting part 6. When the resin reservoir 5 isconnected only to one of the side surfaces 3 b as shown in FIG. 6, it isnot possible to alleviate the disorder of the orientation of theluminous material 7 on the side surface where the resin reservoir is notconnected, irrespective of a volume of the resin reservoir 5, and onthis side surface, the dark weld line 8 is generated.

Further, an appearance defect due to the generation of the weld line 8is greatly ascribable to the disorder of the orientation of the luminousmaterial 7 near a surface layer of the upper surface 3 a. Therefore, theflows horizontal to the upper surface 3 a shown by the arrows X in FIG.3B and FIG. 3C are desirably generated near the surface layer of theupper surface 3 a, and it is more suitable that the positions where theresin reservoirs 5 are connected to the side surfaces of the cavity 3are nearer to the upper surface 3 a. On the other hand, when portionsformed by the resin reservoirs 5, 5 are cut after the molding, there isa concern about an appearance defect such as burrs due to apost-process. Therefore, a connection position 5 a where the resinreservoir 5 is connected to the side surface 3 b of the cavity 3 is setat a position apart from the upper surface 3 a by a shortest possibledistance y as shown in FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B.

Examples

Hereinafter, examples where the present invention is applied will bedescribed.

(1) Cavity

The shape of the cavity 3 was a ring shape with a 100 [m] outsidediameter, a 90 [m] inside diameter, and a 3 [m] plate thickness as shownin FIG. 1. A gate was the side gate 4 and was provided only at one pointon the side surface 3 b.

(2) Resin Material

As a base material, PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) resin was used. Asthe luminous material 7, an aluminum pigment was used and those with 10[m] and 20 [m] grain sizes were mixed, and the mixture was added so thatits content became about 1%.

(3) Resin Reservoirs

The resin reservoirs 5, 5 were connected to the cavity 3 on both sidesof the position where the molten resin meets. The effect of alleviatingthe disorder of the orientation of the luminous material 7 wasconfirmed, with the volume and the distance y from the upper surface 3 aof the reservoirs 5, 5 being varied.

(4) Evaluation Method

As shown in FIG. 5, an angle of the luminous material 7 to a surfaceperpendicular to the flow direction of the molten resin (arrows L, R inthe drawing) was defined as an orientation angle θ, and the evaluationwas made based on this orientation angle θ. As the orientation angle θof the luminous material 7 is smaller at the meeting part 6, that is, asthe orientation angle θ is closer to a right angle to the upper surface3 a, the luminous feeling is lost more and the weld line becomes darker(state in FIG. 4). On the contrary, as the orientation angle θ of theluminous material 7 is larger, that is, as the orientation angle θbecomes more parallel to the upper surface 3 a, the luminous feeling ismaintained more and the weld line becomes lighter. From visualevaluation, it has been found out that when the orientation angle θ ofthe luminous material 7 falls within a range of 120° to 180°, theluminous feeling is maintained and the weld line becomes light andinconspicuous. In this example, a ring-shaped injection-molded productwas cut at the meeting part 6 along a surface perpendicular to adiameter direction as shown in FIG. 8, this cross-section 3 d wasobserved, and the orientation angle θ of the luminous material 7 wasconfirmed.

(5) Results

Evaluation results are summarized in FIG. 9.

(5-1) Volume of Resin Reservoir 5 Examples 1 to 3, Comparative Examples1, 2

In order to alleviate the disorder of the orientation of the luminousmaterial 7 at the meeting part 6, a sufficient amount of the moltenresin needs to flow into the resin reservoirs 5, 5. On the other hand,from a viewpoint of a material loss and a mold structure, the volume ofthe resin reservoir 5 is desirably as small as possible. In the example1 to 3, the volume of one resin reservoir 5 is set to 0.2 [m³], 0.6[m³], and 23 [m³] respectively. Further, in the comparative examples 1,2, the volume [cm³] of one resin reservoir 5 is set to 0 [m³] (that is,no resin reservoir) and 0.1 [m³] respectively.

FIG. 10A shows a photograph of the cross section 3 d taken in theexample 2 and FIG. 10B shows a photograph of the cross section 3 d takenin the comparative example 1. It is seen that in the photograph shown inFIG. 10B, many of the orientation angles θ of the luminous material 7are small, that is, many of the orientation angles θ are close to aright angle to the upper surface 3 a. On the other hand, in thephotograph shown in FIG. 10A, the disorder of the orientation of theluminous material 7 is alleviated and the orientation angle θ of theluminous material 7 is large. Note that upper parts in FIG. 10A and FIG.10B are design surfaces of the injection-molded products.

When the volume of one resin reservoir 5 was 0.2 [m³] or more, theorientation angle θ of the luminous material 7 was 120° or more as shownin FIG. 9, so that the luminous feeling was maintained and the weld linewas light and inconspicuous. When the volume of one resin reservoir 5was over 0.6 [m³], there was seen any large difference in theorientation angle θ. From this, it has been found out that, when across-sectional area of the cavity 3 at the meeting part 6 is 0.15 [m²]as in this example, an amount of the molten resin escaping from the sidesurfaces 3 b, 3 b is suitably 0.2 [m³] or more.

When the cross-sectional area of the cavity 3 at the meeting part 6becomes large due to the shape of the product, a larger amount of themolten resin needs to escape. Referring to the examples 1 to 3, it isseen that, by setting the volume of one resin reservoir 5 to a numericalvalue 1.4 times a numerical value of the cross-sectional area of thecavity 3 at the meeting part 6 or more, it is possible to alleviate thedisorder of the orientation of the luminous material 7 and to suppressan appearance defect due to the generation of a weld line.

(5-2) Position of Resin Reservoir 5 Examples 4, 5, Comparative Examples3 to 5

As previously described, the flows horizontal to the upper surface 3 ashown by the arrows X in FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C are desirably generatednear the surface layer of the upper surface 3 a, and it is more suitablethat the position at which the resin reservoir 5 is connected to theside surface of the cavity 3 is closer to the upper surface 3 a. On theother hand, when the structures of the resin reservoirs are cut afterthe molding, there is a concern about an appearance defect such as burrsdue to the post-process. In the examples 4, 5, the distance y of theresin reservoir 5 from the upper surface 3 a is set to 0.1 [m] and 0.2[m] respectively. Further, in the comparative examples 3 to 5, thedistance y [mm] of the resin reservoir 5 from the upper surface 3 a isset to 0.3 [m], 0.5 [m], and 0.75 [m] respectively. Note that in all ofthe examples 4, 5 and the comparative examples 3 to 5, the volume of oneresin reservoir 5 is 0.6 [cm³].

When the distance y of the resin reservoir 5 from the upper surface 3 awas 0.3 [m] or more, the orientation angle θ of the luminous material 7was below 120° as shown in FIG. 9, so that the luminous feeling was lostand the weld line became dark. From this, it has been found out that,when the plate thickness is 3 [m] as in this embodiment, setting thedistance y of the resin reservoir 5 from the upper surface 3 a to lessthan 10% of the plate thickness is suitable.

In the above-described embodiment, the example where the cavity 3 hasthe rectangular cross-sectional shape is described, but the presentinvention is also applicable to a case where the cavity 3 does not haveany side surface. Another possible shape is that in a cross section of acavity 3, an upper surface 3 a forming a design surface of aninjection-molded product has an arc shape and continues from a bottomsurface 3 c as shown in FIG. 11A to FIG. 11C. In this case, connectingthe resin reservoirs 5, 5 to the bottom surface 3 c continuing from theupper surface 3 a produces the same effects. It should be noted that theresin reservoirs 5, 5 do not necessarily have to be connected to thebottom surface 3 c, and when the generation of a weld line on the bottomsurface 3 c causes no problem, the resin reservoirs 5, 5 can beinstalled apart from the bottom surface 3 c.

The weld line not only appears as a linear pattern but also hasirregularities on its surface in some case. Therefore, in a plated resinpart, a weld line sometimes appears on the plating. The presentinvention is also effective for correcting an appearance defect of aplated resin part.

In the foregoing, the present invention is described along with variousembodiments, but the present invention is not limited to theseembodiments and changes and so on may be made therein within a scope ofthe present invention. When the cavity 3 has the ring shape and has auniform cross-sectional area as in the above-described embodiment, it isobvious that the molten resin meet at the position opposite the sidegate 4 in the diameter direction of the cavity 3, but depending on theshape of the cavity 3, the meeting part 6 may be found by, for example,using resin flow analysis software and the resin reservoirs 5, 5 can bedisposed on both sides of the found meeting part 6.

According to the present invention, in an injection mold in whose cavitymolten resin meets, the molten resin partly flows into resin reservoirsat a position where the molten resin meets, which makes it possible toalleviate the disorder of the orientation of a luminous material tomaintain its luminous feeling and to make a weld line light andinconspicuous.

It should be noted that the above embodiments merely illustrate concreteexamples of implementing the present invention, and the technical scopeof the present invention is not to be construed in a restrictive mannerby these embodiments. That is, the present invention may be implementedin various forms without departing from the technical spirit or mainfeatures thereof.

1. An injection mold in whose cavity molten resin meets, the injectionmold comprising resin reservoirs which are connected to the cavity onboth sides of a position where the molten resin meets, and into whichthe molten resin partly flows.
 2. The injection mold according to claim1, wherein the cavity has a cross-sectional shape having a surfaceforming a design surface of an injection-molded product and both sidesurfaces continuing from the surface, and wherein one of the resinreservoirs is connected to one of the side surfaces and the other resinreservoir is connected to the other side surface.
 3. The injection moldaccording to claim 2, wherein the resin reservoirs are connected to theside surfaces at positions apart from the surface.
 4. The injection moldaccording to claim 1, wherein the cavity has a cross-sectional shapehaving a surface forming a design surface of an injection-molded productand a bottom surface continuing from the surface.
 5. The injection moldaccording to claim 1, wherein the cavity has a ring shape in a planeview.